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Thanks For a Wonderful White Paper Launch The launch of this year's white paper, "Supporting the Reform Process - The EBC Report on the Japanese Business Environment 2001," on October 22 at the Keidanren Kaikan was an outstanding success. Some 220 people attended, including Ambassador Ove Juul Jorgensen of the Delegation of the European Commission (EC) in Japan, Mr. Fernando Valenzuela who was visiting Japan from the EC for high-level talks on regulatory reform with senior Japanese government officials, almost all of the national European Ambassadors, a large number of Japanese government officials, high-level officials from the Keidanren, Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and various other Japanese organisations, ministers and counsellors from the national European, U.S., Canadian, Australian, Thai and Korean Embassies, around 25 journalists and of course, over 100 of our own EBC members. I would like to thank the Committee Chairmen who delivered speeches during the lunch - we noticed many people taking notes during their "words of wisdom." The launch was covered quite extensively in the press (articles can be supplied on request). As several news agencies covered the event, we have not been able track down the newspaper articles appearing overseas, but were told that the "Japan desk" of the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa contacted their Tokyo embassy asking them to locate a trade issues report released by the EBC, which they had read about in a Canadian newspaper! Fortunately, three of their diplomats had attended the event. We were also contacted by Walter Mondale's office in the U.S. after they read about the report in a local newspaper. Photos of the event are posted on our website: http://www.ebc-jp.com under the EVENTS section (at the bottom of the screen). Launch of the Protected Section of the EBC Website We have now launched a protected section of the EBC website. The new section is starting in a very simple form, but at this stage contains the current Year 2001 trade issues paper "Supporting the Reform Process" in a reader-friendly format, and general sector-based "News Articles" of potential interest to EBC members. New articles will be added to the files on a weekly basis and old articles archived. The "EBC Internal e-News Bulletins" will also be posted on the site as well. Members of EBC committees will receive the ID and password free of charge. Non-EBC people browsing the site can register for fee-based access - around 20 applications have been received already in the past few days. To enter the protected site, go to our website: http://www.ebc-jp.com then click on the NEWS & VIEWS section at the bottom of the screen. When you attempt to enter either the news articles or statements sections, an ID/password prompt box will appear. I will send you the ID and password by separate e-mail. The intention is to develop the site further at a pace that available time and funds permit. New EBC Committee Membership Categories to be Offered Next Year Starting next year, the EBC will be offering a variety of EBC Committee membership categories. In reality, this means no change in the status of our current members, who will be assigned to the category of "European National Chamber Company & Individual Membership". The fee will remain unchanged (respective chamber fee and EBC committee membership fee). However, some of you might prefer to switch to the new category of "Special Sponsors" which has a higher EBC fee, but provides the right to register an unlimited number of additional members in other committees for a discounted 50% of the annual fee (50% of 50,000 yen) and also provides publicity in all EBC materials. National chamber membership remains a requirement for this membership category. It will also be possible next year for companies of other nationalities, such as the U.S.A., Australia, etc., who do not belong to a national European chamber to join the EBC as Associate Members. Other categories have been included as well. When the final wording of the document setting out the categories with their fees and conditions is approved by the EBC Council, it will be e-mailed to all of you with a questionnaire about your EBC committee membership intentions for next year as part of our annual database update. You should receive this before the end of this year. EBC Tax Committee Seminar Postponed to the New Year Despite keen interest in the EBC Tax Committee Seminar scheduled for December 7, the event has been postponed to February 27. You may have seen several articles in the newspapers since November 23 reporting on the introduction of consolidated taxation. Since consolidated taxation is one of the main topics of the session, the Tax Committee decided to re-schedule to early next year when, hopefully, there will be more clarity on the issue of consolidated taxation and its (possibly retroactive) introduction in Japan. As attendance will be limited by the size of the venue (EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation), those persons who registered for the December seminar will be given preference over new registrations when we re-advertise the seminar next year. Reminder About EU-Japan Investment Symposium 2001 As you know from a previous e-mail communication from the EBC Secretariat, an EU-Japan Investment Symposium will be held on Tuesday, December 11 at the Keidanren Kaikan from 10:00 to 17:00. The symposium is being organized by the Delegation of the European Commission in Japan, JETRO and the Japan Regional Development Corporation. Several high-profile panelists from the EU and Japan will conduct a discussion to identify policy options and incentives, including promoting better understanding of the investment environment in Japan, identify the needs of foreign companies and also identify areas for future action. Application forms can be downloaded from the Delegation's website at http://jpn.cec.eu.int and completed forms should be faxed to 5562-3666. Secretariat Closure During the Holiday Season The EBC Secretariat will be closed for the Christmas and New Year period from December 24 until January 4. NOTICE A special year-end edition of the EBC Internal e-News Bulletin will be distributed to you within the next few days. |
